MoD: Head Office Building

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What number of personnel is the refurbished Ministry of Defence head office building designed to accommodate; what are the anticipated proportions of civilian and Armed Forces personnel to be located there; when relocation to that building will be completed; what accommodation elsewhere will be released as a consequence; and what steps are to be taken to realise any such surplus accommodation?

Lord Bach: The extensive redevelopment of main building has allowed the Ministry of Defence to increase the capacity of the building from 2,600 to 3,300, of which roughly one in three people are members of the Armed Forces. Reoccupation of the building will complete at the end of September 2004. The increased capacity of the building has allowed for the divestment of five MoD buildings in central London, these are:
	Northumberland House—plans for the sale of the building are proceeding;
	Metropole Building—to be released back to landlord, Crown Estate;
	Great Scotland Yard—to be released back to landlord, Crown Estate;
	St Giles Court—to be released back to landlord, Legal and General;
	St Christopher House—released to landlord, Land Securities, at end of 2002.

Procurement Announcements

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which procurement announcements have been delayed as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Lord Bach: No planned procurement announcements have been delayed as a result of the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Rail Freight Operators: Grants

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have made provision to give additional financial support to freight operators should the review of access charges by the Office of the Rail Regulator, proposed in paragraph 4.4.7 of the White Paper, The Future of Rail, result in higher charges.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Government support for rail freight is provided through the grants programmes administered by the SRA. Should access charges for freight operators rise, it would be for freight operating companies to consider whether to reflect this in any applications for grant.

Network Rail: Signalling Work

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the number of new orders for signalling work by Network Rail is placing design and manufacturing capacity in the engineering supply industry in jeopardy.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Network Rail is a private-sector company and so determines its own approach to the procurement of signalling and other assets to deliver best value to the company. The final conclusions of the Access Charge Review 2003 allowed for Network Rail to spend over £2 billion on renewing its signalling assets over the five years from 2004–05 to 2008–09, and also provided for a review of the company's signalling expenditure requirements for 2006–07 and beyond in order to establish a medium-term strategy for signalling. When complete, this should provide signalling suppliers with a clear and stable framework in which to plan their business.

Tourism: DCMS Additional Spending

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What percentage of the extra spending to be channelled through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport between 2005 and 2008 (stated to be increased from £1,444 million in 2005 to £1,674 million in 2008) will be allocated to tourism.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has yet to decide how the resources allocated as part of the 2004 Spending Review will be deployed.